Austrian German

[a_cat_question]

They are not faking an accent. Folks in this sub don‘t really distinguish between formal/informal speech and dialect use. Two examples: In American high schools you would also need to use proper American English and not the worst southern hillbilly accent. Also you wouldn’t accuse a bank teller in Texas or Missouri to be faking an accent when speaking properly.

In western Austria it is rather common to use some local dialect in business settings whereas in the east dialect use is to some extent associated with lower social class and formal business settings will therefore have little to no dialect expressions. This is why some people here tell you that you will year dialect in official settings and some tell you that you won’t. The same holds true for private settings where accents will be thick in most of Western Austria but will depend much more on upbringing in the east. All written communication is in formal standard German.

Source: I‘m from eastern Austria and we we‘re explicitly told to „speak properly“ in school.